Nike puts mark on Atlanta Olympics. (Nike Inc.; 1996)

The company named for the Greek goddess of victory is going for the gold in Atlanta's Olympics - the marketing gold.

Nike Inc. has invested in a downtown Atlanta command center, a parking structure-turned-retail haven, a World Wide Web site featuring many of the more than 1,000 athletes whom Nike provides with products and promotional fees, and $35 million in summer advertising. Yet Nike officials still speak of the Olympic games, which open July 19, with studied nonchalance.

"To boil it down to just this Olympics thing is too narrow," said Keith Peters, Nike spokesman for global events. "While some of our efforts this summer are directed at the games, our advertising focus is really on communicating cross-cultural messages about global …